Set-top boxes or other electronic devices can have external storage connection ports to enable the set-top boxes to connect to an external storage device. Some set-top boxes have the capability to record video programming. Providing external storage connection ports on set-top boxes allows the storage capacity of the set-top boxes to be easily expanded. Adding storage capacity to set-top boxes is desirable because recorded video programming tends to consume relatively large amounts of storage capacity. One exemplary type of a storage connection interface to enable a set-top box to connect to an external storage device is according to an external Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (eSATA) protocol, which defines a communications path for transferring data between a host and a storage device. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary arrangement that includes a set-top box 10 that has an eSATA port 12 to communicate over an eSATA link 14 with an external storage device 16 (e.g., external hard drive).
An issue associated with conventional eSATA connection ports, such as the eSATA connection port 12 of FIG. 1, is that they are able to recognize just single-drive, single-volume storage devices. A single-drive, single-volume storage device is a storage device that has a single storage drive (e.g., hard disk drive) and that has a single volume defined on such drive. A volume is a logical partition of a storage device. Flexibility is reduced when such an external storage connection port is used since the electronic device would not be able to function properly with a storage device that has multiple drives or that has multiple volumes.